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If you ever had doubts about the old craftsmen's dexterity in achieving unrepeatable finesse with simple forms and tools, these doubts will dissipate in the Old Town. Because, with all our love, we restore both historic monuments and old crafts, trying to save them from phasing out.
Zlatograd has revived, in their historical authenticity, small workshops where experienced masters craft genuine works of their art - knives, swords and saddlery, which are hardly manufactured anywhere else in Bulgaria.
The goldsmith's shop, where the visitors can order antique-styled jewelry, displays specimens beautiful as if taken from a fairy tale.
The tailor keeps at his shop exceptional curiosities and tools, which are hardly to be seen elsewhere - sewing machines dating at least 120 years ago, a collection of antique irons and archive photos.
And so on - shop after shop - a neverending chain of information linking to the past has been meticulously collected and safeguarded here.
And most important - special display boards in each shop exhibit authentic finds from archeological works. Astonishing exhibits are there for you to see: from Thracian, Roman and Byzantine times.
Legends for Delyu Voivoda come to life here as one of the exhibits is an authentic form, which rebels used to cast bullets. This "dynamic exhibition approach", as we term it, ensures that the string will not be broken that connects our times to the past.
In addition to the demonstrations of traditional craft skills, the objects here can be seen and touched. Priceless exhibits, especially useful for the young, evidence that even without PCs our ancestors were able to create magnificent and complicated devices, remarkably efficient technologies, fascinating fabrics and comfortable houses for their offspring.
If you become tired of walking along the picturesque streets, you can taste some traditional gourmets under silvery bagpipe melodies and sip a cup or two of the genuine sand-boiled Zlatograd Coffee. The blend is still a family secret, but in any case its flavour and taste are unmatched.
Sometimes the Old Town is compared to the Etar craft village near Gabrovo. This may be true to some extent, but all similarities end up with the waterworks at the riverbank, which combine a whirlpool, fulling mill and flour mill in one building. Zlatograd's Old Town is one of a kind - this is best known by the ever-vivid memories, which Zlatograd spells on its guests.
The Complex offers accommodation in one Renaissance-style Guest House with modern conveniences for 20 people, and a chalet with 90 beds.
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